Media Discussion Analysis Essay

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Media Discussion Analysis Sense of smell ‘may predict lifespan’ BBC News has published a recent article on October 2014 about a study on how doctors can predict the likeliness of a person being alive in five years time by measuring his or her sense of smell in their later years. A survey of 3,000 adults between the ages 57-85 has taken part of a quick smell test that involved identifying five distinct odors on felt-tip pens. The study showed that 39% of the adults with the poorest sense of smell were dead within five years, compared to the adults with 19% with moderate smell loss and 10% with a healthy sense of smell. Researchers acknowledged various potential lurking variables including poverty and overall health, and suggested that…show more content…
In general, a 57-year-old person has a better sense of smell and overall better health than an 85-year-old. Thus, having more 85-year-old people in the study will not generate the same results as having more 57-year-olds. Criticism 3: The article did not state where the study was conducted. For example, a certain country may have a certain culture where the majority of its people have a common habit, say smoking, which decreases his or her ability to sense certain smell that may or may not cause an earlier death. This definitely does not represent another society where smoking is unpopular. Criticism 4: The survey size of 3,000 adults is too small to generalize all the men and women. This article appears to be written for anybody in the world. Criticism 5: Confounding outcomes. Any factors can result in long-lasting changes in the loss of smell due to various allergies and various types of surgeries, but no linkage to death at all. The death of that 39% of adults may be due to any of the factors mentioned by the researchers themselves, such as age, nutrition, smoking habits, poverty, and overall health- all of which are huge possible lurking variables that can cause biased

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